PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has announced that the United States would be lifting sanctions on Turkey, hailing the success of a ceasefire along its border with Syria.
“Earlier this morning, the government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria and making the ceasefire permanent,” Trump said in a televised address from the White House.
“I have, therefore, instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to lift all sanctions imposed October 14th in response to Turkey’s original offensive moves against the Kurds in Syria’s northeast border region,” he added.
Trump said that a “small number” of US troops will remain at Syria’s oil fields despite a broader American withdrawal from the country.
“We have secured the oil and, therefore, a small number of US troops will remain in the area where they have the oil,” he said.
Earlier today, Russia and Turkey agreed a ‘historic’ deal to undertake joint patrols in Syria.
After marathon talks in Russia’s southern city of Sochi, Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced the deal late last night, just hours ahead of a deadline for Turkey to restart its assault on Syrian Kurdish forces.
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